Originally posted by Chappie:
I have done that ad nauseum on this board, Chappie. I have done it with John 6 more times than I care to think about. John 6 is the context of eternal life and how one gets it. It is by eating his flesh and drinking his blood, which is clearly a metaphor for believing in him. All who believe will never be cast out but Christ will surely raise him up at the last day. In fact, no one can come unless the Father draws him and Christ will raise him up at the last day. So at face value, having yet gone no farther, “raise him up at the last day” is used twice (v. 40, 44) – once with believe and once with draw. Therefore, it seems patently obvious that we must see some connection between drawing and believing. Then we move through the passage of those who doubted down to vv. 63-65 where Christ flatly and without deference tells the hearers that some of them do not believe and he goes on to say why they do not believe … because the Father hasn’t given it to them to come. Now, with that brief synopsis, let’s tie it together. All who the Father gives will come (v. 37) yet no one can come unless the Father gives (v. 65). So right off the bat you have two mutually exclusive groups both tied to the giving of the Father. Those whom the Father gives come and those who he does not give do not come (yea even cannot come … a word of ability – So much for that idea that all men have the opportunity. Christ himself said there were a group of people he was talking to who “cannot come.”) Next we see the issue of raising up at the last day. It is guaranteed for those who behold and believe (something that comes from the giving of the Father [vv. 63-65]) and those who are drawn (v. 44). Therefore in the context, it is hard to escape the fact that future resurrection is tied to the drawing of the Father which is virtually synonymous with the “giving” of vv. 37, 65. Therefore, all who are given come and no one gives unless given. If you believe that all men are given opportunity, then you must of necessity believe that all come and therefore you are a univeralist. Yet I don’t think you believe that. If you believe in the final resurrection, then you must tie it to the drawing of the Father which certainly ends in the resurrection of the one drawn. Yet you would have some drawn who are not raised, a direct contradiction of v. 44. It simply will not work.I have extensively gave my interpretation, in context, of John 6:44. You post scriptures, yet you never take the time to place them in context; nor do you take the time to explain how you feel they support your position. Just once Pastor, I would like to see you do that.
Now do you want to continue to say that I do not deal with Scripture in context? If you do a search, you will find this same explanation in several different places over the last 3500+ posts of mine.
/qb]It is disappointing to see you again misrepresenting my position after we have talked about it. I have never talked about imposed will. I vehemently deny the aspect of imposed will. God does not work apart from the free will of the individual.The fact that all are not saved can just as easily, more justly, and more logically be explained by freewill as imposed will that you so lovingly proclaim.
Read the text in the Greek and tell me what it says. Then we will carry on this discussion.Pastor, how is it that you heard him say men, but John, who was there, and is further validated by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all heard him say all men. It saddens me, what you do this passage to make it fit into your theology. … The bible says “all men”, you change it to “men”. Do you feel so secure in your theology that you would:
You will find that I have changed nothing. And it is disingenuous and again misrepresentative to say that I have. I will say you the trouble of looking up the Greek. I will give it to you. The phrase in question reads: pantas elkusw pros emauton, which being interpreted is “all I will draw to myself.” The Greek word for man is anthropos and I will tell you with absolute certainty and no fear of contradiction that you will not find it in that verse. Thus your charges and citation of Rev 22:18-19 is dead wrong and it totally out of line. You should know better.
Now on to the point of the verse, I noticed that you, having begged for me to deal with passages in context, completely ignore it to go on with your preconceived ideas about what the text says. Why? If you want me to take time to reinvent the wheel here for you (when this stuff can be looked up in a number of good resources) then do me the favor of interacting with what I take time to put forth. I dealt with the context. I showed you why Christ uses “pantas” in the sense of all men without distinction (i.e., Jews and Greeks/Gentiles) vs. all men without exception, something that would contradict clear passages of Scripture. You take a passage with no other explanation (John 6) and interpret it in light of a passage with an explanation that coincides with John 6. If John 12 had no other interpretation than yours, I would grant you a tremendous amount of tension. The fact is that John 12 fits perfectly with the book of John and the testimony that Christ died for the whole world, not simply for the Jews. That he why he says that when he is lifted up, he will draw all men to himself, even those Gentiles who previously had asked to see him.
Then I see a whole list of verse to close your post, none of which I disagree with. Why do you cite them without showing how they support your position? Every single one of those verses supports my position.
For instance, you cite Matt 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. You make Christ out to be a liar because “all men” did not hate them. Christ was a man who didn’t hate them; the apostles were men who didn’t hate each other. In fact, there were many believers who didn’t hate each the apostles. So in reality, this verse supports me, not you. It undermines the position that you are trying to argue for.
Rom 5:18 is another interesting one: Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (KJV) Are you now a universalist believing that all men have justification of life? Surely you are not a universalist so you must admit that not all men have justification of life. Again, this verse proves my point, not yours.
The point is that your proof texting is not a good method of argumentation and more importantly, it doesn’t even support you. Chappie, I have to wonder if you have really though through these issues. I don’t mean to be hard on you, I really don’t. I appreciate your participation. Yet I read this post and wonder what in the world you are thinking. You probably did a concordance search for “all men” and listed a number of verses that came up without really thinking about what they really say. I would encourage you to think through these things some more.